THE KIEL CANAL PROPOSAL.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 March 1939, Page 4

THE KIEL CANAL PROPOSAL.

TS history about to repeat itself? It is proposed by Germany to -widen the Kiel Canal, and this recalls the completion of a. similar undertaking twenty-five years ago, when jubilant in Ihe pride of Empire, all Germany proclaimed a. national holiday to celebrate a great event in the history of that country. That was in June, 1914, when secretly Germany was doubtless preparing for that war which brought such destruction and loss of. life to most of the peoples of the world. That day the quays at Kiel were gay with bunting and the German people were happy in the knowledge that they weie celebrating an event which would further enhance the importance of Germany as a world nation. In the roadstead the armadas of two mighty sea Powers —those of Britain and Germany—rode serenely and safely at their moorings. There was a friendly interchange of formal visits between the high commands of each fleet. Farther out in the bay, an American yacht, the Tngomar, piloted by an Englishman, was engaged in a series of races with the Meteor, that giant schooner owned by the Kaiser Wilhelm. Outwardly to the German people everything was peaceful—two great nations in a friendly spirit were celebrating an event, ol great world importance.

But there was an undercurrent, of strange foreboding beneath all the Imperial pomp and gay pageantry. There were those among German naval and military officers who knew that, as far as Germany was concerned, much of the friendly avowals and talk of uniting two great, nations in peace to keep the world from engaging in war, was so much cant and humbug. Time and events were soon to trace across the pages of world history the terrible, meaning of those fatal shots fired at’Sarajevo on the last day of that great Kiel celebration.

The proposed widening of the Kiel Canal undoubtedly has its significance today. Is it related to the aggressive policy of Hitler? Does it constitute a threat to Britain? Is it another forerunner to a world war? The proposal is certainly not without diplomatic importance. The deeper one goes into the matter the more it becomes evident that the plan to widen the Kid Canal is something of vital importance to those countries beyond Germany who have trade routes to protect, and whose 'very life blood depends upon keeping those channels of trade free from the danger of interruption in a war-